500 years ago, the active stage of the capture of vast territories of America by the Spanish conquistadors began, which on the modern map are located from the center of Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua. It took them only two years to conquer the state of the Aztecs - one of the most powerful empires in the Western Hemisphere. During the Spanish colonization, many Indians died in battles, as a result of repression and from diseases brought by Europeans. Experts note that, despite the fairly high development of the Aztec civilization, they were vulnerable in the face of European conquerors. The descendants of the Indians still consider the period of colonization to be a tragic page in the history of their people.
Developed civilizations began to appear in the Mesoamerican historical and cultural region (covering territories from modern Mexico to Honduras) in the II millennium BC. e. Olmek is considered the first. Later in Mesoamerica the civilizations of Teotihuacan, Zapotecs, Maya and others arose. Local Indians have achieved tremendous success in mathematics (it is believed that they were the first to use zero on the planet), astronomy, architecture, medicine and agriculture. They have created original writing systems. Around the 11th-13th centuries, a people who are known today as the Aztecs appeared in this region.
Warrior civilization
The term "Aztecs" became widely used in historical science in the 19th century. The Aztecs themselves called themselves "Meshica". They arrived in the central part of modern Mexico from the north - from the country of Aztlan. Its exact location has not been established. Various historians "place" it in the northwest of Mexico, in the southern part of the United States.
For a long time, the Aztecs had to be content with the role of mercenary warriors. Local peoples considered the newcomers from the north to be barbarians and treated them with disdain. In 1325, Mexica was founded on an uninhabited island in Lake Texcoco, the city of Tenochtitlan. The island was allegedly of no interest to the local tribes due to the abundance of snakes. However, the Mexica used to eat reptiles and did not see a problem in such a neighborhood. According to legend, they noticed an eagle sitting on a cactus and devouring a snake at the site of the future settlement. The descendants of the settlers from Aztlan considered it a good sign. Today, the image of this mythical plot can be seen on the national flag of Mexico.
For more than a hundred years, the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan paid tribute to other powerful states and only in 1429 they won independence. Then they formed a military alliance with the inhabitants of two surrounding cities - Texcoco and Tlacopana. The combined forces were enough to conquer almost all of Central Mexico.
The position of ruler among the Meshik was called wei-tlatoani ("great orator"). The Aztec Empire arose in the middle of the 15th century under Way-Tlatoani Montezuma I. He significantly expanded the territories controlled by Tenochtitlan, introduced a rigid system of taxes and the practice of human sacrifice. According to the beliefs of the Aztecs, every 52 years the world was on the verge of death and in order to save it, it was necessary to water the gods with human blood.
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These beliefs have served as the ideological basis for constant wars. The rulers of the Aztecs even forced the vassal and neighboring states to arrange ritual "flower wars", as a result of which representatives of the losing troops were sacrificed.
The Aztecs prepare a drink.
Under the rule of Tenochtitlan, the construction of roads, bridges and dams began. They were used for troop movements and trade purposes. In the territories controlled by the Aztecs, there was an economic upturn, which was reflected in the population. According to estimates of modern historians, about 10-15 million people lived in the state.
The Aztecs practically did not know animal husbandry. They only bred turkeys and "meat" dog breeds. They also hunted, fished and ate insects. But the Aztecs succeeded in agriculture: artificial floating islands on Lake Texcoco gave several crops a year. One of the staples on the Aztec table was corn.
Cortez and the beginning of the conquest
In 1517, the expedition of the conquistador Hernandez de Cordoba discovered the Yucatan Peninsula and brought to Spain the news that the Indians had a highly developed civilization. The next year, the second expedition of the conquistadors set off to the shores of Mesoamerica. They reached the territory of modern Mexico and discovered the mouth of the Tabasco River. The Spaniards exchanged European trinkets with the Indians for gold and precious stones, and also received information about the Aztec empire. Hernan Cortes won the right to a new campaign in these lands. For this, he sold all his property.
The fleet consisted of 11 vessels with crews of 110 people. Cortez led a troop of 553 soldiers, including 13 arquebus archers, 32 crossbowmen, and 16 cavalrymen.
Portrait of Hernan Cortez.
In February, Cortez's ships reached the Mayan-inhabited island of Cozumel. The conquistadors intimidated the Indians and destroyed their sanctuary, but there were no large-scale clashes. The fleet moved north along the Mesoamerican coast.
On March 14, 1519, Cortez's troops reached the mouth of Tabasco and landed on the coast. This day is considered to be the beginning of the conquest of Mexico - the Spaniards attacked the Indians and, thanks to the cavalry, defeated them. To appease the conquistadors, the Tabaskan nobility gave them rich gifts - including the Spaniards received 20 women, among whom was Malinche, who later became a concubine, translator and personal adviser to Cortez.
Later, the Spaniards laid the foundation for the city of Veracruz and formed an alliance with the Totonac people, who had long been on bad terms with the Aztecs. The governor of the Way Tlatoani arrived to negotiate with the intruders. Cortez announced that he intends to personally meet with the ruler. The Spaniards demonstrated horsemanship to the Indians and gave them an artillery salute.
Soon, Cortez received rich gifts, including a massive Sun and Moon of gold and silver. However, the Indians persistently asked the guests to leave. But the commander of the conquistadors did not listen to this - he sent all the gifts and stolen goods to the king of Spain and ordered to burn his ships, transferring the sailors to the infantry.
Cortez began his march towards Tenochtitlan. On the way was the mountainous principality of Tlaxcala, which had been at war with the Aztecs for many years. Having fought with the Spaniards, the locals made an alliance with them. Part of Tlaxcala's elite even agreed to be baptized. At this time, the nobility of Tenochtitlan was divided into two camps - some demanded to punish Cortez for his insolence and give him a battle far from the capital, others urged the ruler Montezuma II not to quarrel with the aliens. As a result, the Way Tlatoani supported the peace advocates. He invited the Spaniards to one of the richest cities in the empire - Cholula.
The Cholula Massacre.
However, Cortez, having arrived in the city, provoked a conflict under a far-fetched pretext and staged a massacre, as a result of which about 6 thousand civilians were killed. However, Montezuma II did not react to this in any way. On November 8, 1519, Cortez entered Tenochtitlan. Way Tlatoani personally met the Spaniards, generously gifted them with gold and placed them in one of the capital's palaces.
According to historians, at that time the capital of the Aztecs was the largest city on the planet. In it, along with the suburbs, lived, according to various estimates, from 200 thousand to 1 million people. It was distinguished by its complex layout and stately architecture. The main island was connected to the shore by dams and bridges. There was a plumbing in Tenochtitlan. The central square housed a market - one of the richest in the world.
At first, the Spaniards were delighted with what they saw and did not go into conflicts with the local population. But when Cortez demanded to demolish the sanctuaries, stop sacrifices and start building churches, relations soured. In addition, the Spaniards discovered a cache with the gold treasury of the Way Tlatoani in the palace.
Montezuma was taken hostage. Soon, the Spaniards learned that a punitive expedition had arrived on the coast to arrest Cortez. The leader of the conquistadors immediately departed there. As a result, the commander of the punitive raid Narvaez was captured, and his subordinates went over to the side of Cortez.
In Tenochtitlan, meanwhile, the situation escalated. The Spanish garrison was under siege, but Cortez was allowed to return. Montezuma II called on the Aztecs to submit to the Spaniards, but he was killed - either by his subjects, or by the conquistadors who had lost interest in him. On the night of July 1, 1520, the Spaniards tried to escape from the city, but were ambushed. Up to 450 Spaniards and several thousand Tlascalans were killed in the battle. Most of the looted gold has disappeared. Almost all the conquistadors were seriously injured, many died during the retreat. Despite this, a week later, the remnants of Cortez's detachment were able to defeat the Aztec army at the Battle of Otumba and retreat to Tlaxcala.
Leandro Isaguirre * Torture of Cuautemoc * (XIX).
Cortez recruited a new allied army and built 13 brigantines, which he sent in disassembled form to Texcoco. Meanwhile, an epidemic of unknown European diseases began in Tenochtitlan, which claimed millions of lives, including the new ruler of the Aztecs, Cuitlauk.
On May 30, 1521, the Spaniards besieged the Aztec capital from water and land and blocked the water supply. However, the city resisted desperately. The losses of the besieged amounted to several hundred thousand people. They managed to take him only by starvation. On August 13, the head of the state, Montezuma's cousin Cuautemok surrendered and tried to achieve acceptable conditions for his compatriots.
However, instead of negotiations, the Spaniards subjected him to brutal torture, seeking information about the missing treasury of Montezuma. But the ruler did not reveal the secret of the treasure. He was held captive for another four years, and then executed. After the fall of the Aztec Empire, most of modern Mexico fell under Spanish rule. However, the small Mesoamerican states, located in the jungle, resisted until the end of the 17th century.
Break morale
According to Yegor Lidovsky, Director General of the Latin American Cultural Center named after Hugo Chavez, the political factor also played a role in the defeat of the Aztecs.
“The empire was extremely fragmented, and the conquistadors played on its internal contradictions. The Spaniards used the hatred of the conquered peoples against the Aztecs, deliberately destroyed the Aztec leaders. In a word, they did everything to break their morale, the expert said in an interview.
Painting by an unknown artist * Night of Sorrow *.
According to Boris Martynov, head of the department of international relations and foreign policy of Russia at MGIMO, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the death of the Aztec empire was due to an objective historical process.
"Although the Spanish conquest, which resembled a crusade, also brought the Indians a lot of evil - war, disease, alcohol, - it did not lead to their total destruction," Martynov explained.
According to him, the descendants of the Indians still consider the Spanish colonization "a tragic page in their history and evaluate it unequivocally negatively."
“It's not for nothing that we see an Aztec eagle on the Mexican flag today. Residents of the country feel continuity and feel strong nostalgia for the era of the great empire,”Martynov emphasized.
Svyatoslav Knyazev